View full sizeBrett Duke, The Times-Picayune archiveBreach in the 17th Street Canal, September 2005

The corps has already demurred once. In an April 5 letter to Louisiana historic preservation officer Pam Breaux, Army Assistant Secretary for Public Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said that until litigation against the corps over flooding during Katrina is concluded, the corps cannot comment on the application.

The corps' input is needed because the park service requires the input of the landowner for any site being considered for the National Register. The corps owns most of the land around the two breach sites.

The new request to the corps is an appeal by Levees.org of the agency's decision to punt. Breaux, the state's preservation officer, had determined the levee breach sites met the register's eligibility requirements two years ago, in documents filed in support of the application.

If approved, two breach locations would be added to the list: the spot on the 17th Street Canal where a 450-foot-long segment of floodwall and earthen levee slid into the city, allowing water from Lake Pontchartrain to pour in for several days, and a 250-foot-wide segment of floodwall that failed on the east side of the Industrial Canal, allowing water from the canal to flow into the Lower 9th Ward.

A Louisiana State Historic Plaque is already posted on city property near the 17th Street Canal breach. A similar one is posted near the London Avenue Canal breach, though there is no such marker at the Industrial Canal. Those plaques are not directly associated with the National Register request.

The National Register application details how the two breaches occurred, includes a history of the canals and of the construction of the two segments, and then outlines how investigations into the breaches shaped changes to the federal law governing levees and the rules used to build them nationwide.

Jim Gabbert, a National Register official overseeing the nomination process, said today that it remains unclear what his agency can do if the corps again declines to comment on the application.

"I'm afraid my answer is going to have to be I don't know," Gabbert said. "Because of the unique situation of this nomination, and the situation surrounding the appeal of the corps' failure to meet their regulatory requirements under the regulations that guide the National Register, we're in consultation with the Interior Department's solicitor's office.

"When the corps responds, we will be in contact with the corps, the solicitor and the Department of Justice about how ongoing litigation affects this," he said.

Gabbert said that although the National Register letter to Darcy requesting corps comments on the application was dated May 5, it has not yet been officially received by Darcy's office, as printed material delivered to Army offices undergoes a lengthy screening process for radiation and anthrax threats. The 15-day response period will not begin until the letter is officially received, he said.

Levees.org already has sponsored the placement of two Louisiana State Historic Plaques commemorating the 17th Street Canal floodwall failure and a similar failure of a section of the London Avenue Canal wall. The plaques are located on city property near those two breaches.